Abstract
The ionic crosslinked 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid-co-acrylic acid hydrogel, AMPS/AA and its Ag and Fe
O
composites were synthesized using an in situ technique. The surface charge, particle sizes, morphology, and thermal stability of the prepared AMPS/AA-Ag and AMPS/AA-Fe
O
composites were evaluated using different analytical techniques and their adsorption characteristics were evaluated to remove the methylene blue cationic dye, MB, from their aqueous solutions at optimum conditions. Also, the same monomers were used to synthesize AMPS/AA microgel and its Ag and Fe
O
nanocomposites, which were synthesized using the same technique. The AMPS/AA-Fe
O
nanocomposite was selected as conventional iron-supported catalyst due to the presence of both Fe(II) and Fe(III) species besides its magnetic properties that allow their easy, fast, and inexpensive separation from the aqueous solution. It was then evaluated as a heterogeneous catalyst for complete MB degradation from aqueous solution by heterogeneous Fenton oxidation. It achieved a high rate of degradation, degrading 100 mg L
of MB during a short time of 35 min as compared with the reported literature.